Shades of Wrath
by Gnarled Bone
Summary: The mission to Wave goes awry when Sasuke falls. Darkness reaches out from the confines of Naruto's mind, usurping the Kyuubi's influence on him, and takes hold of the young Uzumaki's heart. Will he watch the great village Konoha crumble, or be its sworn protector? - Updates will be random. Pairings undecided, warnings inside. Very likely to be OOC.


**A/N:** _Faded here. So, I would have updated Faltering Contol, it being 80% complete, but I couldn't write anymore with all the bloody ideas hopping in my head (I despise the term plot bunny, but it fits the description). This fic will be ongoing, but it won't be updated unless I hit a block on my other stories. I gave up Mother Loves Me until further notice (probably going to make a better edition later), and I've vowed to at least complete Faltering Control (probably, maybe . . . eventually) so that I don't end up being making dozens of stories and leaving them incomplete, or 'non finito'. :P_

**IMPORTANT:**_ Unbetaed. No harem. Pairings, if any, which there probably will be when I decide to update again, are undecided. Kurama's a GIRL, because kitsune's are depicted as females frequently. That does not mean she won't be an evil, cunning demon. She will not be all apologetic and submissive to Naruto, and will not immediately help him or be attracted to him. She might BECOME attracted to him, but that's if I choose her for the pairing. Just because she's one of the main characters doesn't mean she's in, just a heads up. AND she won't be SEX INCARNATE in appearance! No offense to other authors, but I find it. . . so, freaking, cliché._

**Warning: **Rated M for Character Death, Blood, Gore, Language, and Alcohol Use. NO SEXUAL CONTENT! (_I'll add more in when we come to certain chapters if they contains something I did not put here, so be sure to check if you worry about this stuff_.)

Word Count (_excluding A/N_): around** 5,113**

* * *

"W-wha? Why did you. . ." The sun-kissed blond trailed off, unable to comprehend the sight before him.

Uchiha Sasuke lay, slumped ungracefully on the ground. Needles pierced him in numerous quantities and the sight itself would have made many shudder, both in horror and in pity.

Still and motionless. Cold and pale. His lungs drew no breath, his chest did not rise, did not fall; and yet still the crimson of his eyes could be seen.

Spinning. He was spinning.

Or was that just him? His head? Or was it _his_ eyes. . . ?

_Don't be dead._

_Sasuke._

_Wake up._

_Wake up. . . !_

_"Sasuke!"_

The dead would not stir. He knew that, and yet he would not accept it. Would not believe it.

Damp eyes, which rivaled the deepest blue of the watery depths, warped into a baleful red. Hatred festered within those once innocent orbs, now malice manifested.

Slowly, ever so slowly, his head rose from its drooped, almost submissive position. The bangs of golden tresses that draped shadows over those burning eyes, hidden from the masked assassin's own orbs, were revealed.

_"Hraaagh!"_ He roared, screamed, howled. He had jerked his head up towards the heavens, nearly splitting his lungs with the force of his bellow. Energy, the colour the same as his currently crimson irises, oozed out from his stomach. The assassin quivered, and fear sought to writhe beneath his chest and cast doubts upon his mind.

_What is this power? What is he?!_

The beast-boy gripped his head as if in pain. A shroud enveloped him, cloaking him in the malevolent energy. It enroached upon him like a hoard of ants would when dismantling a corpse. The shape of a fox's head, baring fangs in a sharp grin, manifested.

Then something strange occurred.

Something snapped.

To Naruto, it was something within his mind; an echoing chime, urging him to take revenge, to accept _power!_

To Haku, it was the fear that stormed within the confines of his ribcage, and a demonic wave of weakness that threatened to devour him.

Naruto fell silent, slouching over. For a moment, Haku thought he'd fallen unconscious; however he did not fall in to the merciless stone that he stood upon. The aura receded, the fox head giving a howl, seemingly in rage, only to be replaced by something far more terrifying.

Darkness.

Flames of the blackest ebony consumed him and the Uchiha, and he began to scream once more.

He burned, his flesh charring and blackening from the immense heat that poured over him in the fiery fountains of Hell itself. The stench from his flesh as it was wrested from his bones, stripped clean and painting them void of anything but the colour of night, permeated in the misty air. The assassin gagged as his sense of smell clogged by the foul scent.

As Naruto burned, he could _feel_ it, beneath skin and crawling its way out. Lava was his blood and fire racing through his veins. The continuous pressure within his body ached; the outside absolutely _burned _with the scorching blaze of sin. A cold fury, enforced by a once silent, hidden hatred that he didn't know he had slinked through his limbs, his mind. The agony of both his physical, emotional and mental states choked him and pushed him under, underneath the dark, scornful sea that swallowed him whole.

It was _maddening_.

And then it mercifully stopped.

Once it did, everything,_ everything_, stopped hurting. A cold, soothing sensation rushed over him, and he could think clearer than he's ever had since the date of his birth.

And he knew. He knew what he desired.

He wanted vengeance!

Haku watched helpless, powerless, and horrified; all the while in morbid fascination as the boy he befriended turned into nothing but a demonic, burning skeleton, painted as black as the ashes of his shell. The other combatants halted, and soon the screams cut off, silenced.

_What was going on?_

The orange jumpsuit was nowhere to be seen, having been disposed of by the unforgiving flames; as was the body of the Uchiha, who seemed to not have existed at all.

The skeleton gripped his skull still, and the blazing shadows draped themselves around its thin, seemingly brittle frame. A thick collar of grey fur hid the spinal cord and the back of the skull. The points of his ebony digits curved, sharpened into jagged but elegant claws, belying a darker, more wicked intent.

Circling the wraith's skull was an ivory crown, perhaps also made of bone. Fastened into it were four metal bolts, surrounding a strange gem of amethyst that had an odd glint of scarlet swirling in it. Haku was beside himself in trying to figure out what had happened.

The skeleton lay hunched over, arms dropping to its sides, and then with a sound of snapping marrow, rose.

Anxiety raged even more prominently as those gaping sockets somehow peered into him, perhaps not quite seeing him. Two pinpricks of ruby nearly went unnoticed, before expanding within the gaping sockets, filling a small portion of the center. It was enough to be considered a small pupil, if nothing more.

Haku readied himself and threw a volley of senbon at its shadow wreathed frame and skull. The hissed through the air almost silently and struck their intended targets with a hollow sound. It was no use, they dissolved within his robe of dusk and the moment they connected with the charred black bone. It served no purpose other than causing the skeleton to cock its head, its teeth gnashing and clicking against themselves as its jaw dislocated, hanging wide open grotesquely.

A wispy rattle escaped the corpse's unhinged jaw, breathing dark tendrils of gloom that danced across the mist-obscured floor. The sound itself resembled a far-off, muffled vacuum. Clinging to the ground, it soon took shape. Limbs formed blunt, shadowy hands and fingers that clawed at the ground, somehow managing to carve furrows into the stone. Haku threw another batch of whistling needles and this time they burrowed into the writhing shade. He gasped as the webby tendrils that sprouted from the abomination's flesh consumed them. Another set of arms burst forth from where he presumed the shoulder blades were, and he sped to another mirror, once more on the offense.

A barbed whip extended from its tailbone as it squirmed and groaned and _wept_ upon the ground, convulsing. Its humanoid legs snapped and conformed, becoming hooved and bull-like. Cloudy protrusions like horns, tangible and nearly as shapeless as the mist that manifested from Zabuza's will, jutted out from its forehead and spine. Two stretched horizontally from the sides of its tangible head, curving downwards slightly.

Its trembling stopped, and it turned slowly towards him.

It had no face.

It was clumsy, he realized, as it was struck by his needles and ice several times. He whisked himself through his mirrors and appeared behind the skeleton, finally confident enough to attack it as its shade fumbled like a newborn puppy upon birth. He slid a kunai across the back of the skeleton's skull when it twisted all the way around, faster than he could see.

It took the kunai between it's sharp teeth and bit down, canines indenting the metal with a harsh sound.

He never realized how sharp they were until he got up close.

Eyes wide beneath his mask, he watched as it dissolved slowly within its mouth, and the monstrous tendrils that escaped the unhinged jaw would have showered him in their putrid ink had he not have fled into the safety of his mirrors.

It was then, he realized in bitterness and horror, that running to his mirrors was probably a bad idea. The corpse's abomination had somehow gotten behind him and where there was once another set of arms, were now blades. He cried out in pain as one cleaved through the arm he rose in defense, and he whirled around, twisting his body to escape.

_Too late,_ he thought, seeing his severed arm flop uselessly on the ground.

The abomination latched onto his back, sending a creeping cold into his limbs as it's hooved legs formed talons instead, hooking themselves painfully around his waist and sending him sprawling upon the ground. Haku landed on his knees and held himself up with his arms until the abyssal creature forced enormous pressure onto his back, forcing him to flatten his body against the ground lest his spine snap. He struggled, trying to wrestle himself from the grip, but it was no use.

**"You shall. . ."** There was a considerable pause between each word, and the words themselves grated against his ears. They sounded as if they were murmured beneath the waters, gurgling and echoing through its hollow jaw and somehow heard clearly enough to be deciphered. The being took a deep breath before continuing, a rattle of death escaping its molars. It glided towards them.

**"Not escape me, parasite." **The corpse rose an ebony finger, teeth clicking.

The fear wracked Haku's body as he grew frantic in his struggling, desperately trying to release himself from the immobilizing hold. This thing, whatever it was, was truly terrifying.

**"Take off his mask will. . . you, Sasuke?"**

Never before had he feared death like he did now, feeling the beast wrench his head up by his dark hair and forcibly remove the mask. His head was then twisted so that he was facing the skeleton.

For a moment, silence reigned. Glowing red eyes stared impassively at him.

**"As I thought. Too bad. I would have liked not having to kill you."**

A spiral of violet appeared upon its finger, and it spun ominously, growing in size. All the while, the shade chittered excitedly in Haku's ear, feeling its master's power, the commas in its red eyes whirling around rapidly.

**"Farewell, Haku." **The wraith hissed darkly, shadows dancing across its body as the light from the spiral grew bright. **"And tell Sasuke that. . . I will kill Itachi for himand his shadow will follow me in this endeavor."**

With the name of its deceased comrade departing from its lips as a final lament, the spiral burst forth in a screeching beam of violet.

The shade dissolved from the force, by this immense light, and an odd sensation of numbness overtook Haku as his world flashed so very, very brightly.

His last thoughts before he plunged into darkness were of regrets.

_I am sorry, Zabuza-sama. . . I have failed you._

* * *

**"Raikiri!"**

The lightning crackled within his palm as he rushed forth, the swordsman's eyes widening in mere shock as his chest was pierced. His lungs, touched by the blade of lightning, expelled blood from his mouth in a surprised, pain-filled gurgle. A thick line of rouge crimson saw fit the trail down the edge of his lip and splatter onto the ground.

The mist dissipated, rolling off the edges of the bridge in foamy condensation.

Retrieving his hand from Zabuza's punctured sternum, he watched as dimness replaced where was once life. His hand held little signs of blood, dissolved; such was the power of his Raikiri. The swordsman slumped over, not without attempting to weakly muster his accomplice's name from his suddenly parched, burning throat.

"Hak-ach!" he slammed into the ground, unable to hold himself up. Kubikiri Houcho remained clasped in his grip, even as it slackened. Ragged jerks showed that he was having trouble breathing, and soon they stilled. Kakashi kneeled and checked his pulse, just to be sure.

Satisfied to find none, he gazed at the fallen form of his opponent and gave his last-minute respects. _May you and your comrade find peace in death, Zabuza. . ._

Having paid homage to the swordsman, he turned on his heel and used one finger to hook itself around the edge of his headband and pull it down and over his Sharingan eye.

Only to stop cold.

The gears in his head churned frantically, trying to figure out his next course of action, as he took in the sight of the creature ahead of him.

_What is this thing?! _his mind cried.

He expected to see the faux hunter-nin that he left his students to contend with, along with the two genin themselves, but they were nowhere to be seen except for Sakura, who had stood rooted to the spot along with Tazuna at the sight of the walking corpse.

_A demon? A monster? Spirit? _Kakashi slid into an offensive position as the carcass _flowed_ towards him, hovering slightly above the stone, clicking minutely all the while. Its head cocked, its ribcage rattled as it seemed to sigh.

**"What is the matter, Kakashi . . . sensei?" **Kakashi's breath hitched in disbelief as it spoke, slow and deliberately, as if taking great consideration in chosing each word. Strangely, its jaw hardly moved, Kakashi was almost convinced it hadn't spoken at all! But yet, it waited for his response, mere feet before him.

_That voice. . . !_

He was rendered speechless as he gaped, eyes wide. Horror enveloped him in waves.

_"Naruto?"_

The skull almost seemed to grin, adding to its already frightening visage.

**"Well, well; and here I was beginning to think you had. . . _forgotten_ me." **Naruto gave a rusty, clattering chuckle. His bones shook from the slight force. This time, his jaw did move.

Kakashi pushed down the urge to shiver and frantic words tumbled from his mouth, "Where's Sasuke? What happened to you?"

The cackle abruptly stopped, swinging jaw shut, and the garnet red eyes set themselves upon him, almost as if in disdain.

Or perhaps dismay.

**"Dead," **he answered curtly, seeming to destroy any inflection of emotion in his tone.

A sob suddenly choked out from behind them, but they paid it no heed besides the skull jerking nearly unnoticeably.

The masked jōnin stiffened. The last loyal Uchiha, dead? Hysteria threatened to muddle his mind and render it an unorganized mess. Obito, his chance to fulfill his debt and redeem himself, gone? The council was going to murder him! The village would be in an uproar!

An unsteady breath slid past his teeth. He blocked himself off from the unsettling emotions and turned his attention towards his skeletal student. Another of his teammates _dead._ He had failed once again.

Pushing the matter as far awat from his mind as he possibly he could, he inquired with a heavy tone, "What happened to you?"

Naruto spared his sensei a hesitant look, not that he would have noticed as he was nothing but a skull. **"My_ tenant_ tried to come out but left when the darkness came to me. This is the result." **Naruto gestured towards himself, giving the incredibly vague and short version. He didn't speak of the pain or the hate that swallowed him. His carcass was still enshrouded by the shadow robes, and the ivory crown resting upon his black, charcoal skull seemed embedded into it. "**I also managed to dispose. . . of the fake hunter-nin."**

Kakashi pondered Naruto's words, and found he wasn't able to sense a lie. Nodding, he mused, "Are you going to stay a walking skeleton? Not to be rude, but it's unsettling.

If Naruto could have looked amused he might have, but with the trauma of his best friend dying still giving him an odd, depressing buzz feeling, he merely hissed and jerked his head down in affirmation. He reached for that barrier on the edge of his consciousness and _pulled._

The shroud enveloped him in a hollow, muffled _'whoosh!' _and encircled him, pulling taut against his thin, willowy frame. Kakashi watched in trepidation as the void tendrils concealed his genin student from view.

Several seconds later, it pulled away, revealing Naruto in the flesh. Literally.

But he wasn't the same Naruto as before, bolstering a large, cheesy grin and cheery blue eyes. Now, he bore garnet red irises, void of a pupil. They glowed eerily within his sockets, his sclera black. His complexion held a slate grey tint, veins slightly visible against the shade. His birthmarks were jagged, shallow gouges upon his skin, looking more like someones attempt at giving him whiskers with a blunt scalpel.

His hair hung loose, losing some of its spiky qualities; the bangs hung in his eyes. It looked bleached, a paler shade than before, resembling more like silver tinted blonde. The robes still concealed his modesty, and Kakashi was under the impression that the flames stripped him of his clothing.

Naruto's face was as expressionless as his ebony skull was, and his eyes locked onto Kakashi's visible eye. He didn't seem bothered by his first kill. Grimacing, the jōnin wondered how in the hell he was going to explain this to the Hokage.

Garnet red eyes flicked over his shoulder and his lips pulled down into a scowl. "I suggest looking behind you, sensei. We've got company."

Kakashi realized that the bleached-blond's voice still held the slow pausing quality that his other form held, only less noticable. Acting on his student's 'suggestion', he turned, and came face to face with an army of thugs. A man of small stature in a business suit led them, dramatically clapping as he _applauded _them. Shaded glasses, not dissimilar to Aburame Shino's own, hid his eyes relatively well from view.

The army leered, the corrupt businessman smirking at the shinobis' glares.

He stopped clapping.

"Hehe, well, it looks like you did your job pretty well, Demon of the Mist: you weakened the shinobi while getting yourself killed. Splendid! Now I don't have to pay you." The man characterized by greed paused, appraising them and Zabuza's corpse. Narrowing his eyes, he bit out, "But where's that damned brat?"

Ignoring his question, the jōnin shot one of his own into the tense silence that reigned.

"Why are you here, Gato?" Kakashi had a fairly good idea, as he regarded the army cooly. He was honestly exhausted, and debated whether or not he'd be able to kill them all when he was nearly drained of all his chakra. Behind him, Naruto's lips pressed into a thin, displeased line as his garnet eyes narrowed.

Sakura and Tazuna gazed horrified at the sheer numbers, disheartened by their quantity. Sakura's cheeks held tear tracks, having heard what happened to Sasuke.

Forcing a smile of pleasantry, Gato answered, "Just making sure the job gets done."

His smile turned manic and conniving, "Kill them and then raid the village! Leave the women and children unharmed! I'd like to have some fun with them when this is over!"

And just like that, they charged, jeering and laughing, brandishing their weapons to run them through or cripple their bodies. They prepared to kill and looked quite eager to do so.

Kakashi prepared for the attack, to defend his charges, when he saw Naruto stride forward.

"What are you doing?!"

He was pierced by surprisingly cold red eyes, "Preparing to exterminate the parasites."

Naruto's hand rose out from the folds of his robes, bearing ebony claws with jagged points.

He smirked cruelly, and whispered his command lowly so as to not be heard by the silver-haired jōnin, "Get them, Sasuke."

With a shriek, a dark purplish shade burst forth from the blond's shadow. It was roughly the size of a horse now, surprising Naruto somewhat, having absorbed some portion of the blast used to decimate Haku. Kakashi stared in awe and a mix of disgust, along with all others. The army faltered slighty, before continuing its steady charge.

The shade had transfigured somewhat, looking more solid than before. Its torso was malnourished as black skin stretched against its ribs tightly. It held two sets of mouths now, both baring dagger-like fangs. White-hot burning spheres made up its eyes, carved into its sockets and bulging like light bulbs.

It shrieked a guttural, ear-splitting cry. Nearly everyone clutched their ears, and some within the force tripped as their eyes involuntarily clenched shut.

"What the hell is that thing?" was the cry of many.

Naruto patiently waited, watching as the creature turned to look at him. Smiling, he gestured towards them.

"Go ahead and feast. You look hungry."

Sasuke, in all his soulless, undead glory, clicked his teeth excitedly and pushed himself up and off the ground with surprising speed. Loping off towards the army, they immediately halted and most turned tail.

Gato roared orders at them in terror of the abomination, "The first one to kill that _thing_ and the boy will get _triple _the amount agreed upon!"

The infantry of thugs pressed on and met the creature's ravenous blades. Sasuke rushed forward awkwardly, his second set of arms cleaving through flesh and bone and _man_. Screams erupted from those he fell upon, jaws clamping down upon their forms and tearing through them in frenzy. Blood splattered coal clack skin and concrete.

They hacked and battered away at him, gaining no ground and giving no injury to the demon's body. Eagerly, Sasuke stood on his hooved legs as one of his blade-arms lanced through a thug. He rose into the air, screaming and pleading before his ribcage gave way to Sasuke's hands. Ruthlessly, the shade searched for the spinal cord within his chest and tugged harshly on it, ripping it out. The man fell upon several others, dead, as his spinal cord was devoured with a series of crunches from the former Uchiha turned monster.

More fled, others spewed their bile upon the ground. A black tongue lashed out and wrapped around another's throat, Sasuke's mouths splitting open wide to consume his torso.

More died in this manner, the others cut off by amused red eyes and vicious claws.

Tazuna had passed out from the carnage, watching as Naruto and that thing lay waste to the band of thugs. Sakura fell to her knees and vomited all that was in her stomach, and when nothing more but stomach acid remained, heaved dry hacks of air.

One thug in particular was gutted by the blond wraith's claws, his intestines pooling onto the floor. He screamed and desperately tried to put them back into his stomach, gathering them in his arms as he tried to shove them back into the gaping crimson hole the wraith made. Naruto smiled the whole time, a dark, foreboding smile that promised agony.

The horror was just too much and in the end Kakashi himself had to turn away from the brutality. The pink-haired genin fell unconscious and she, fortunately, didn't land inher vomit.

The bridge was then plunged into darkness, more screams erupting than before.

"No, no, n-_ack!_" _Shwick!_

"Oh gods, please don't ki-" _Crunch._

"Hahahaha! We're gonna di-_u__rk!_" _Thwack!_

All around, crys whipping across his ears, madness ensued. He could not see through the darkness that hid the _slaughter _from view. He could tell the last one most likely went insane, or perhaps hysterical?

For minutes this continued, screams echoing hoarsely. Kakashi shut himself of from them. An unbidden thought struck him.

_What kind of monster has he become?_

He immediately, desperately cut out that chain of thought before it could go any further. Naruto wasn't a monster. He wasn't a monster.

Any yet still, his mind whispered that he was lying to himself. _Liar. _That Naruto was a monster, for only monsters could have slaughtered and _enjoy_ it.

The Hokage wasn't going to be happy with his report, that's for sure.

The darkness, sitting just within the peripherals of his vision, receded.

_. . .What the hell?_

There were no thugs, no corpses, no blood, limbs, heads or even weapons. Just nothing, except for the quivering businessman who soiled himself. Like they never existed in the first place. Never died in the first place. Internally, he repeated his question, only with more incredulity than before.

Just Naruto, who stood, smiling pleasantly. It soon slid off as the last vestiges of the darkness vanished, becoming nothing more than vapor swept by the wind. He gave off a seemingly mournful sigh and glided off towards his sensei.

The abomination was nowhere in sight. The bridge was finally silent besides the water lapping beneath it.

Kakashi eyed Naruto, wondering why he left the man alive.

"I left him alive for the citizens of Wave to deal with." the blond apparently noticed his stare. Then the wraith gestured towards the sound of many footsteps behind him. Half expecting another army, he was surprised by the boy Inari leading them, wielding a crossbow. The other villagers were armed likewise. They looked around a bit confused.

Naruto spoke before his sensei, his voice crisp and oddly warm, "The people of Wave, I give you Gato!" he made a sweeping gesture towards the quivering man. The villagers eyed him in revulsion and malice. The man looked to want to faint, pale and skin slick with sweat. He was sputtering off offers, begging in the attempt to stop Naruto from giving him to them.

"The murderer of Kaiza, the _oppressor_ of your country lies at your feet, whimpering like the coward he is. He has pillaged, raped and destroyed your hopes, dreams, and people. He watches you suffer but cares nothing for it, believing money to be much more important than _your_ very lives. Will you extract your revenge from him or allow him to go free?"

Kakashi was surprised by the short, rousing speech of his student as the villager chanted, _"Gato must pay!"_

The shinobi both stepping to the side, they saw Gato trying to escape. Looking a bit vexed, Naruto sent a whip of darkness that ensnared his legs and drug him back. "You're leaving before the party's even started? That's bad manners, Gato-_san_." The honorific added to his name was spoken with much venom.

He screamed, clawing at the stone as the furious villager soon descended upon him, judging him guilty. Inari walked over to them smiling slightly even though tortured screams of mercy could be heard.

"Naruto-nii? What happened to you? And grandpa and that other boy?"

Both shinobi's spirits dampened a bit, Naruto more so than Kakashi.

Naruto answered his innocent question, "Tazuna-jiji just got a bit queasy?" he glanced at Kakashi, before continuing, "and Sasuke. . . he was killed by Zabuza's friend. I cna't answer your first question though, because even I don't know exactly how this happened."

Looking shocked, the boy numbly nodded. He didn't know what to say, and even then, Naruto didn't look affected that badly by it. Inari decided that ninja were good at hiding things, so maybe that was it.

"Looks like you took my words to heart, Inari." Naruto smiled, like a crack in granite. He patted Inari on the head. "Good job, Kaiza would be proud."

The boy teared up, and nearly latched onto his waist when he stopped himself. He wouldn't be as strong if he did that, would he?

Naruto chuckled, seeing the confliction in Inari's mind. "It's okay to cry, as long as it's not when your sad."

Inari did just that.

Kakashi looked on mournfully, wishing he could have saved Sasuke to see this sight. He then strode off towards his comatose student and charge.

_Perhaps he's not as much of a monster as I first thought. . ._

* * *

Sarutobi balked, finally processing the silver-haired jōnin's report.

"Sasuke is dead?!" he froze and then demanded, "What chakra did you feel when Naruto changed? Was it the Kyuubi's?"

Hatake Kakashi was trying valiantly not to cower beneath his Hokage's rage. "N-no, it wasn't the Kyuubi's. It was something. . . less potent, but much darker. At first, it was the Kyuubi's, but then it. . . changed."

Glaring at the Sharingan user, he slumped back into his seat while heaving a weary sigh, unmindful of the fact that a stack of papers had flittered to the floor during his fury. The council will undoubtedly be outraged at Uchiha Sasuke's death. Sarutobi Hiruzen was certain that there was a good chance they'd try to pin the blame onto the young Uzumaki, and he'd do his damnable best to keep them from him.

Lighting his pipe and rubbing his temples, he questioned the Hatake once more.

"How's Naruto holding up with all of this?"

He was quite worried about that, actually. The boy had changed drastically from when they first set off, and he nearly choked on his pipe when he realized who enetered his office. He was calm, not quite cold, but distant. He looked almost untouched by recent events, save for the obvious changes.

"He is. . . stable." Kakashi couldn't find anything better to describe the blond wraith's situation. "He doesn't seem to show any symptoms of depression, and he's certainly not guilty about the deaths of Gato's men. It's almost like he forgot about Sasuke."

Sarutobi grimaced, unsure of how to take this news. Either Naruto was truly unaffected or able to hide his emotions extremely well.

Both were bad, because if he acted unaffected by such terrible events, unaffected by the fact he slaughtered perhaps a hundred men, who knows what he could do. Sasuke was considered his best friend and rival, so if this. . . transformation changed his appearance, what else could it have changed? And if he was able to hide his emotions even from the Sharingan wielder. . . what else was hidden?

Dismissing Kakashi, Sarutobi groaned.

_Why must you be so difficult and unpredictable, Naruto?_

* * *

Currently, the blond wraith was thinking. Or perhaps planning.

One, get stronger and figure out how to control his powers; two, kill Sasuke's brother Itachi; and three, become Hokage.

So, the first one was easy. Train.

Now the second and third, they were the ones he had trouble planning out.

He knew that both of them had to be handled delicately, because if he screwed up he might not get another chance. He had to find out where Itachi was, prepare himself for the inevitable fight of his life, and make sure he didn't die in the process. Perhaps he could check in a Bingo book to see how strong he was? Itachi was a missing-nin after all.

Becoming Hokage. That dream, that goal. . . he wasn't even sure if he wanted it anymore. Now that he was thinking so much clearly, he wondered if it was worth it. From what he could see, all the Sandaime Hokage did was sit around and fill out paperwork, bicker with the council and send teams on missions. Sure, there was the occasional war, the occasional assassin, but was that what he wanted? To be confined to his village until retirement, to let his power go to waste?

Immediately, he knew the answer. No, he didn't want that. He had wanted it before for respect, for acknowledgement, but that wouldn't be possible. Not here in Konoha, where his very name was a curse upon the people's lips. Besides, he didn't want their respect anymore.

_No,_ he decided, garnet red eyes glittering, _fear is a better tool._

_A tool I intend to use against all those that stand in my way._

* * *

**Question: **What should the amethyst blast/spiral that killed Haku be named?

Thanks for taking the time to read. Ciao!


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